State-Journal.com - Male boarding school may open by 2010

Kentucky State University could open a boarding school aimed at preparing African American males for college as soon as 2010, according to President Mary Sias.

High school students would live in campus dorms, with their own teachers and an on-site principal. They would have access to KSU facilities and dual credit courses, bridging them into college life.

The plan is part of an effort to increase the number of black men who earn postsecondary degrees, Sias told The State Journal.

“We believe it’s a good way to save those students, and actually stop many black males from dropping out,” she said.
“We, as a nation, are going to have to figure out how to push more African American and Hispanic students, and other students of color, through that pipeline (from high school to college).”

If federal and grant funding is secured, Sias said a pilot program for 30 to 50 high school students could open in the fall of 2010. The university met with representatives from the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and other foundations about the program, she said.

The university had already set aside space to launch the program this fall, she said, but the money didn’t come through.
Officials will know by January if the boarding school will become a reality, she said. The pilot program would cost $250,000.

“We’re going to be aggressively working on it this fall,” she said.

African American youth who show potential for academic success - but are limited by environmental, social and economic factors - would be recruited, said KSU spokeswoman Felicia Lewis.

Students in Kentucky’s urban and rural areas would be targeted, she said, but those from neighboring states would also be included. KSU has analyzed Franklin, Fayette, Jefferson, Christian and Hardin counties for participation, Lewis said.

The expense to run the school after the pilot phase, nor the grade level of the potential students, has been determined. But the university could work with public school districts to identify high-risk students, anticipating that state funds would follow them and defray some of the cost, Lewis said.

Boarding school students would live together in KSU residence halls, Sias said.

There isn’t enough space for the students now, Lewis said, but plans to expand university dorms are under way.

“In the fall, we have 100 percent occupancy in the residence halls,” Lewis said.

“In the next 18 months, with the university’s plan for new residence halls, the university should be able to accommodate the residents in the program.”

Students would be identified by uniforms, and they would be supervised at all times, Sias said. The school would primarily serve black males, but it could be open to some female students too.

Sias says she was inspired to pilot the program after visiting Vivian E. Summers Alternative School in Chicago. U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan toured the school the same day, she said.

“I was surprised when I went in,” Sias said “There was order, they were teaching calculus, they had a radio station, and the school had a 95 percent graduation rate.

“Our agreement was that if we were going to pilot this program, I wanted that principal. So that principal would be here to get the program up and running.”

More African American students would be successful in college if they had minority teachers - especially male teachers, Sias said.

According to the Kentucky Department of Education, 4.5 percent of the state’s public school teachers are minorities, compared to more than 16 percent of students.

“Having someone who looks like you in the classroom is critically important,” Sias said.

Sias said that the public school system must do more to prepare its graduates for college, particularly in math and reading, and for the ACT college entrance exam.

University leaders need to collaborate with middle and high school educators too, she said.

“Many students come to us not knowing how to be a student,” she said.

“Those are skills that need to be developed in the middle schools and high schools.”

49.	Posted by smartgirl1 July 6, 2009
	Because the terminology used and the intend is racist. You can twist and bend it any way you want. Restaurants put Chinese or Japanese or German or Mexican because they serve ethnic food. If you want to serve ethnic food of a certain area in Africa you also put that in to advertise your restaurant. That argument is so old, I can't believe you are using it. Same for the other examples you brought. American comprises all colors. The State Journal isn't white, neither is the WSJ. You might want to take a closer look. Looks like you are stuck up in some of the same racist teachings I have been taught by our lovely black community leaders. My daddy always said, let them talk. If you want to break racism, don't preach it, don't practice it, no matter what way. If you exclude a group, you are racist no matter which way you twist it. It's good to push for equality. We have gone way past that. And this is an example of reverse racism at its best. Btw, I did fine even with white teachers in my classroom. It's just another excuse. I'm so tired of people using color as an excuse for their lack of success. Get over it already!

47.	Posted by JordanMardan July 5, 2009
	drich: Students don't care what color a teacher is. They just care if the teacher can teach or not. JM: Color is NOT the issue. Culture is...as in mono-cultural....or multicultural. The issue Dr. Sias was referring to is "whether or not the instructor is a traditional-based teacher/professor or one that is "steeped in multicultural teaching strategies, etc."..or cultural competence. Peer-reviewed research illustrates that Students of Color do much better when taught by a culturally competent or non-traditionally steeped educator or professor. For example, why is it that world-renown educator Marva Collins has taken the worst students--that other teachers gave up on--and NOT only turned them into high school graduates...but college graduates with 4.0 GPAs?! Why are many schools across the country purchasing Collins' patented teaching method?! Because it works. Many aren't buying it because...they don't want to be shown up by a Black educator. Just that simple. Rather than seeking to criticize KSU for excluding poor White students, why isn't the Univ. of KY (my alma mater) and other predominantly White colleges seeking to establish a similar program for poor Whites?! There are way more White colleges than this one HBCU. Ahhhh. It's so easy for Whites to criticize a Black person or school than to confront a White school or administrator. Tsk. Tsk. How in the world could tiny KSU accommodate "all the poor Whites" wanting to go to college in Kentucky?! In your rush to criticize Dr. Sias, you didn't think about those issues (other colleges establishing similar programs, space needed), did you?! By the way, how come you all haven't complained about the all-White Boards of Directors of the Kentucky Association of Counties, the Kentucky League of Cities, and other all-White entities around the state?! Why is it that you all are so "Color conscious and White blind?!"

46.	Posted by JordanMardan July 5, 2009
	phillipsonline: Really, it seems that this is on the verge of discrimination. There's Black History Month, Black This, Black That. You put "White" in front of anything and it's discrimination. JM: In any country, the dominant group NEVER places its ethnic identifier in front of anything, such as a class, bookstore, newspaper, etc. For example, in China's colleges, you won't see any classes with CHI in front of them. However, you will see IND or MAL for Indian and Malaysians, which are sub-groups in China. These identifiers inform the student that "this is a class that is taught from a different point of view than the dominant mainstream Chinese perspective." And so it is at most American colleges, as a student will not see WHI in front of the overwhelming majority of classes in the course catalog...but they will see AAS for African American Studies, LAS for Latino American Studies, or AAS for Asian American Studies classes. A student will not see WHITE in front of HIS 101, ANT 345, PSI 405. Ask any White professor and he/she will tell you the same. It is NOT surprising to me that "most Whites who complain about 'Black this and Black that'...do NOT likewise complain about Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Japanese, etc. restaurants, churches, learning centers, etc. What's the damn difference?! Nothing. An ethnic identifier is placed in front of a church, event, learning center, newspaper, or restaurant to let the reader know that "the services, activities, food, reading content is different from the dominant American group. Hence, that's why we don't see American or White in front of Applebee's, Logan's, Texas Roadhouse, etc. Everyone knows American food is served in such restaurants....although some foods may not be American at all) We don't see American or White in front of the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, The State Journal, the Louisville Courier Journal, or the Lexington Herald leader. Everyone knows that these newspapers are predominantly written from a mainstream or White American perspective, whether liberal or conservative. I used the term "predominantly" because every now and then an article or "Letter to the Editor" is included which is different from the general White conservative and/or liberal perspectives. Why is it that the group of books known as "The Classics" are all by White authors?! Why is it that all game shows use material that is 99.999% White?! And when Black, etc., material IS used, on Jeopardy, for example, it's usually something that almost everyone knows, such as "She sang r-e-s-p-e-c-t." Even my 10 year-old cousin knows that is Aretha Franklin. (watch these shows for a week and count the number or percentage of times that ONLY white culture is included) Why aren't passages from books from great Black, etc. authors like Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, or James Baldwin (or any other non-White author) used as "answers?!" Why is it that the overwhelming majority of Whites can't see that so many things in America are White-based...even though "White" doesn't appear before the event, church denomination, newspaper, restaurant name, college course topic, content used on game shows like Jeopardy, etc., etc., etc.?! Why do we see phrases such as "men, women, and minorities," OR "the affluent, the poor, and minorities?!" Who are the men, women, the affluent, and the poor in the last sentence?! Right. They're all White people. In the same vein, when a white person is referring to a white man or white woman, he/she simply says my doctor, my teacher, a police officer, etc. But if the doctor, teacher or police officer is a Person of Color, the White person uses an ethnic identifier in front of doctor, police officer, or teacher. Thus, you all are doing something similar, but for an entirely different reason,.....and don't even realize you're doing it...but when a Black person does it...you seem to "get it" real fast. But why not on the other hand?! As far as a "White History Month," what would be taught...that isn't already now being taught outside of Black History Month?! Heh heh heh!!! Dummies. Why is it that African-/Asian-/Latino-/ and Native "Americans" (and a few progressive-thinking Whites like Tim Wise and Molly Secours)can all see everything I've written so far so clearly...but the typical White bloke cannot?! Yes, that's the reason Obama used the word "typical" to refer to the "general population of White people: Whites that DON'T GET IT." Nearly all the other comments on this topic can also be described as "written by the typical White person." phillipsonline: The white teachers didn't make me any smarter than the black ones did. But are we to assume that Sias is trying to say that black people don't want to be taught by white teachers? JM: Nope, that's NOT what Dr. Sias meant. Now watch a bloke write that my "message is from the typical Black person." Yeah, right. If it was, I wouldn't need to write it...you'd already know it.